Colleagues remember Morton Friedman, a longtime professor and former vice dean at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, as a mentor and a repository of knowledge about Columbia.

Friedman, who is survived by his wife Sandy, children Robert and Lori, and three grandchildren, died on Tuesday in Connecticut. He was 86.

"The passing of Professor Mort Friedman, one of Columbia Engineering’s most devoted and treasured faculty members and leaders, is a deeply sad loss for SEAS and the Columbia community," SEAS Dean Mary Boyce said in an email. "Mort’s laugh, his smile, and his passion for SEAS will always be remembered, and we pause today to reflect on a great colleague and a true friend to so many in SEAS and across Columbia. He was a remarkable man and I am very lucky to have known him, if only for a short time."

Friedman joined Columbia’s faculty in 1956 as an assistant professor in the department of civil engineering and engineering mechanics. He went on to serve as chair of that department from 1981 to 1995.

George Deodatis, the current chair of the department of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, called Friedman one of his academic mentors. Deodatis said that on his first day as a graduate student at SEAS in 1983, Friedman invited him to his office to talk.

“He was very jovial, very engaging, smiling all the time. From the very first minute, he made me feel at home,” Deodatis said. “For the next 30 years, I’ve realized that this is exactly who Mort Friedman was—always with an open door, a smile on his face, always ready to help, to guide, to mentor young students and faculty.”

“When you were talking to him, you realized that he cared about you. He was always available and ready to help for any kind of problem,” Deodatis said, adding that Friedman was known to help faculty members and students across departments.

In 1995, Donald Goldfarb, then-interim dean of SEAS, appointed Friedman to become the school’s vice dean.

“Mort was really invaluable—not just as a person who knew everything about the school, but he was a very thoughtful and very fair kind of person,” Goldfarb said. “He wasn’t pushing his own department or discipline. What he cared about mainly was Columbia.”